To Kill a Mockingbird: Savannah Cultural Arts

To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee, is a fairly ubiquitous story. Most of the people walking into the theatre knew that they would be witness to Atticus Finch defending Tom Robinson, an African-American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, as seen through the eyes of his children. What many audiences were not expecting as they walked into The Cultural Arts SPACE Theatre, however, was an immersive theatrical experience that would take the story off the page and directly into their laps.

The production, directed by Ellie Pyle, managed to take the hyper-stylized stage play and continue it into the staging. The set for the show, which was brilliantly designed by Amanda Drescher, utilizes every entrance into the theatre at some point at another, and even the doors to the storage space underneath the tech booth were transformed into Arthur "Boo" Radley's house. Even the porches of the Finch and Atkinson houses quickly transformed into a full courtroom set, allowing the production to flow steadily between the two major settings of the story. The costume design by Chann Givens captured the feel of the 1930's without stooping to the normal "aging" process that so many costumes from the period undergo, as if dust from the attic comes pressed into the clothing when it is purchased. The lighting design by Ryan McCurdy ably highlights the nuances of the other design elements, and it also manages to follow the main focus of each scene without being distracting.

Bill DeYoung, who played Atticus Finch, managed to find the calm strength that is so very integral to the iconic figure he was tasked with playing. As Tom Robinson, Stanley M. Simmons managed to portray the innocence of his character with an absolute minimum of posturing and indicating. Most impressive was Bailey Keith, who played Jean Marie "Scout" Finch. While the other two child actors in the show, Matthew Sparks and Charlie Ippolito, playing Jeremy Finch and Charles Baker "Dill" Harris respectively, gave good performances, Ms. Keith simply performed beyond her years. Indeed, I think that many actors twice her age could learn a thing or two from watching her perform. The supporting cast also performed their roles admirably: As Maudie Atkinson, the neighbor-turned-narrator in this version of the script, Cameron Ippolito kept the story moving at the necessary pace, and Eric Kildow, playing Judge Taylor, ruled the court room so realistically that I almost believed that Bob Ewell (Gabriel Ricard) would actually be thrown in jail for contempt.

The show was not without it's problems, however. There were times when the pacing of the show's dialog got a little sluggish, which is a sad tendency in dramas that depict the Great Depression era. A larger problem, however, was that there were times when actors simply could not be heard. While some of this can be blamed on an irregular stage set-up, it simply comes down to the actors needing to work on proper vocal production. But for the most part, the show clips along at a good pace, and the parts that are essential are heard on a consistent basis, so these are really minor concerns.

In lieu of the normal cast biographies, the production's program featured what it called "Perspectives" from each cast member and the director. Reading through them, one sees everything from George Santayana's famous quote "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" to a mother's joy in performing on the same stage as her son. Each perspective is different, and yet these 17 people came together and formed a single production, which was put on with the expressed goal of bringing about dialog on a very important issue in Savannah. To me, this is the core of what a "Community" Theatre should be. It would be very nice indeed to see more shows with this central idea put forth in the Savannah Area. Recently, Mr. Eric Kildow wrote an article that included my favorite exclamation: "Support Local Awesome!" This production is awesome. It was produced with the Savannah area and its residents in mind at every step of the way. And judging by the sold out crowd opening night, people are supporting it. I sincerely hope that you are among those people.